


It's Gonna Be a Happy New Year

by livingvakariouslythroughyou (supercow585)



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Families of Choice, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Holidays, Karedevil Squad Santa 2018, Light Angst, Mistletoe, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, New Year's Resolutions, Post Season 3, Trying again, karedevil - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 16:59:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17248004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercow585/pseuds/livingvakariouslythroughyou
Summary: Karen accepts Foggy's invitation to the Nelson family New Year's Eve Party and gets more of a party than she bargained for when it becomes apparent that the invitation was a ruse to try to set her up with Matt. But as the night progresses, Karen starts to think that maybe it's not such a bad idea after all.





	It's Gonna Be a Happy New Year

**Author's Note:**

  * For [steelorchids](https://archiveofourown.org/users/steelorchids/gifts).



> Written for Steelorchids for the 2018 Karedevil Squad Secret Santa exchange using the prompts: New Year's Eve party with midnight kiss, Foggy's family invites Karen to join our holiday meal as an obvious setup and Matt's so sorry, and "What can I say? I'm a badass". Sorry to make you wait so long friend, but I hope you enjoy! This was an absolute joy to write and it got me really excited for writing new Karedevil stuff post DDS3. 
> 
> Also completing my second Daredevil Bingo square of "mistletoe." Glad I didn't miss my chance to use it.

Karen probably should have seen this coming, all things considered. The clues were there now that she thinks about it. Foggy’s parents have been dying to get her to visit with the the guys for dinner for what feels like months now. They tried hard to get her over for Christmas eve dinner last week. Thanks to her hectic schedule, she still wasn’t able to take them up on that very generous offer. But perhaps tonight, she will finally spring whatever elaborate trap they’ve been trying to set.

She should have noticed right away that Foggy’s smile looked a little too tight around the eyes when she’d finally shrugged and said, “Why not?” to his last ditch attempt to invite her along for the ‘Nelson family New Year’s Eve Bash’. But what else was she going to do? Spend the night alone in her apartment? Better than in her office, like she’d done on Christmas Eve, though at least she’d been working a story. Ellison had invited her over if she didn’t come up with other plans, but spending a the time with Matt, Foggy, and Marci as they celebrated with Foggy’s family seemed the infinitely better choice. Oh well. As she looks around the room at the knowing faces smirking in her direction, she thinks that it was worth it. She’s been waiting so long for this moment. 

———

Karen pulls her phone out of her pocket to check the time as she walks the last block to Nelson’s Meats in a tasteful but not-entirely-weather-appropriate sparkly black cocktail dress, her strappy, velvet heels clicking with each purposeful step she takes down the sidewalk. She’d had just enough time to shower and get ready after work, and now she’s hurrying to avoid being late.

When she reaches the store, she doesn’t bother to knock, just lets herself in to a chorus of greetings, mostly from the youngsters. They’ve taken over the better part of the store-room floor, spread out with various board and card games to keep themselves occupied while the rest of the party rages on from further inside. She carefully tiptoes around colorful cardboard, waving as she goes, until she reaches the door to the apartment. With a deep breath, she opens it and steps through.

Heads from all around the room turn toward her as she walks in, and she is met with another round of happy greetings. The sound hits her like a wall, warm and inviting-- just like the actual atmosphere of the room. An involuntary smile breaks across her face at the feeling of it, and when she sees Matt, Foggy, and Marci talking in a corner off to the right, her smile consciously grows even bigger.

“Karen, you made it!” Foggy calls and she moves through the crowded room in his direction.

“Yeah, I couldn’t turn you down. Not again,” she says with a smirk as he encloses her in a big, bear hug.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” he says, though she notices a flush creeping up his neck. She idly wonders how much he’s had to drink already. At the sight of her inquisitive look at the beer bottle he holds in his right hand, Foggy perks up. “You want one of these? I’ll go get ‘ya one,” he says, not waiting for her response before he’s taking off toward the kitchen.

Karen blinks at his retreating form. Huh. He definitely seems weird, but she can’t place how or why. But before she can spend too much time pondering what might be making him act so funny, Marci is saying hello and pulling Karen in for a hug, too. Karen shakes the thought away and tries to focus on the compliment Marci is giving her for her dress. And then it’s Matt’s turn to say hello, and Karen’s attention is suddenly a lot more focused.

“Hi, Karen. I didn’t realize you would be joining us. It’s so good to see you,” he says with that shy smile that she just hates that she loves so much. He nods his head in her direction but makes no further move toward her. She has noticed he’s been doing that lately— letting her initiate the extent to which they share physical contact. She can’t decide whether she loves it or hates it.

“Hey, Matt,” she says softly as she gives in to an impulsive decision to step into his personal space bubble and wrap her arms around him in a tender hug. The kind they used to share before … well, just before.

He follows suit immediately, hand snaking around her waist and the other around her shoulders as he angles his head subtly into her neck and the hair at her nape. Though the hug lasts for mere seconds, she could swear it lasts for hours as she hears him inhale the scent of her. Time slows to a crawl as she struggles to remember how to breathe.

She pulls away before the moment becomes any more tense. “Yeah, just decided this would be more fun than spending the night alone.”

“Absolutely. Uh, can I take your coat?” he asks, and she’s incredibly thankful for the change of topic.

“Thanks,” she says as she shrugs out of it and hands it to him. He walks back to the coat rack and hangs it while Karen surveys the party. More laughter can be heard from all corners of the room, which is still decorated in full-on Christmas glory. And she sees multiple different people sporting Christmas sweaters. Curious.

“Well, it looks like everyone is in a festive mood.”

“Oh, they’re just getting started. They haven’t even broken out into carols yet. But don’t worry. The night is young,” Marci says with a smirk.

Karen raises an eyebrow. “Carols? As in ‘Christmas carols’? Aren’t they a few days late for that? And the sweaters?”

Marci laughs, an airy sound. “Not according to Mrs. Nelson. It’s standard Nelson family policy that the entire month of December is fair game for all things Christmas.”

Matt re-joins the circle just as Karen is scoffing incredulously. “The whole month?”

He cocks his head to Marci. “Are we talking about the Nelson family Christmas rule?”

Marci nods. “Uh huh. I was trying to warn Karen about how ‘festive’ the night might still get.”

“It’s a long-standing tradition. So long as the Christmas decorations are up, the holiday isn’t officially over,” Matt says with a shrug.

Foggy finally returns, beer in hand which he hands to Karen. “What’s not over?”

“Christmas. Apparently,” she says as she takes the beer and thanks him.

“Oh yeah. Mom’s a big fan. Maybe the biggest. For as long as I remember, she’s always gone all-out, putting everything up the day after Thanksgiving and refusing to take it down until the day after New Year’s. At the earliest. And during the entire month of December, clear through the last day, you are subjected to the full-force of her holiday spirit and any and all holiday traditions contained therein. That’s just how we do it. Sorry. I guess I should have warned you,” he says, shrugging guiltily.

Karen smiles wistfully. “No, no. It’s fine. I don’t mind it. Actually, I kind of like it. It’s sweet.”

Foggy gives her a suspicious look. “Let’s hope you continue to think that later tonight.”

She narrows her eyes at him as she sips from her beer and ponders what he could possibly mean by that.

———

A little while later, after making the rounds and meeting various extended family members, Karen finds herself meandering up the stairs to the bedroom area of the apartment. But she doesn’t make it far; as she goes, she is distracted by the gallery of family portraits covering the wall along the stairwell. She traces a finger around the filigree of a frame containing a picture of Foggy and his siblings at Christmas many years earlier. It’s a candid shot, everyone caught in different stages of smiling or laughing, and Karen feels her heart swelling against the confines of her ribcage at the sight. The picture, paired with everything about the gathering taking place around her, is so warm and domestic, so distinctly like a living, breathing Normal Rockwell painting, that Karen is overcome with a sense of longing that she was quite sure she had locked away somewhere in the dark recesses of her heart. She’s very disappointed to learn that’s not the case.

With his uncanny timing, Matt steps up on the stairwell behind her, a concerned look pinching his brow.

“You okay?” he asks, hands in his pockets.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she says as she surveys another photo from the gallery before her. This one features Mr. and Mrs. Nelson at what looks like an anniversary celebration. They are young and fresh-faced, smiling directly into the camera, as Anna sits on Edward’s lap with her arms clasped around his neck. Karen’s heart swells further, pressing harder against her chest.

With a sad smile, Matt nods behind him to where the rest of the family laughs at some new joke. “It can be a lot, I know. Especially around the holidays. The Nelsons are a special breed. Remarkably well-adjusted. Almost disgustingly so.”

Karen chuckles under her breath and turns to face Matt again, wrapping her arms around herself, as if to keep her swelling heart from busting her chest in half. “It’s not that. Not quite. I just … I miss it. All of it. Christmases and New Years and singing carols around long tables with leaf extensions covered with more food than anyone could ever possibly eat. But mostly I just miss that sense of happiness and … belonging that you get just from being there, ‘ya know? I miss being a part of that.”

He raises his eyebrows and flattens his mouth into a mirthless smile. “Would you believe me if I said I did. I mean, I never had a lot of that to begin with, but after spending time around here, I miss it all the same ... If you can miss something you never truly had.”

Now it’s Karen’s turn to smile sadly at Matt. “Oh definitely. I know you can.” She knows this personally and down to her bones because more than anything having to do with family and the holidays, there are so many things that she misses with Matt that they never got to share in their short-lived time together. She misses them so acutely, sometimes she wonders if she will ever stop missing them.

A beat passes and she hates how transparent she feels when he says, “Well, regardless of all that, I’m glad you’re here tonight.”

“Me too. Kinda makes me wish I’d have come for Christmas eve.”

“Why didn’t you?” Matt asks, placing a hand on the banister and attempting to lean casually against it.

She shrugs. “Working on a story. And I also just didn’t want to intrude.”

“You’re never intruding. Everyone here loves you. But if you weren’t feeling up to the whole Nelson clan … you still could have called me, you know.”

“I know. I do. It’s just—“

Commotion in the kitchen below draws their attention, and they begin speaking in tandem.

“Uh, maybe we should go so what’s up—“ she says, nodding toward the noise.

“Sounds like they could use some help—“ he says, pointing back over his shoulder with his thumb held out of a loosely closed fist.

They trail off with twin chuckles and walk the few steps down the staircase to the hallway. Matt steps out of Karen’s way once he’s cleared the base of the stairs and motions for her to walk in front of him.

“Well, aren’t you a gentleman?”

“I certainly try.”

With a playful roll of her eyes, Karen continues down the hall. As they get closer, the smell of wine gets increasingly stronger. Once the kitchen comes into view, she sees Anna, Foggy, and Marci all bent low and working hard to sop up the dark red liquid of what Karen thinks is a Cabernet Sauvignon while carefully picking up the broken pieces of glass that used to constitute a wine bottle.

Leaning against the door frame, Karen sticks her head in the kitchen while keeping her feet clear of the mess they are still working to clean. “Oh no! What happened?”

Anna looks over her shoulder at the sound of Karen’s voice. “Oh, nothing. Don’t worry. Just set it a little close to the edge is all.”

“Well, do you need any help?”

Foggy chuckles then sighs as he stands and moves to the sink to wring out the moisture in his rag. “Thanks, Karen. But I think we’ve got it.”

Karen feels a hand on her lower back and notices Matt leaning over her shoulder. “You’re sure?” he says, and she feels the air of his breath on her neck, forcing her to fight back a shiver.

Mrs. Nelson chuckles. “Oh, Matty. Always so helpful. Of course any girl you bring home would be just as helpful as you.”

Karen watches, amused, as Matt awkwardly clears his throat while Foggy turns a delightful shade of scarlet. Suddenly the heat of Matt’s hand disappears from her back as he puts an extra foot of space between them. “Oh, no. No, we’re not … I mean, we’re just—”

“We’re not together, Mrs. Nelson. But we’d be happy to do you a favor. At least, I would be,” Karen says.

Anna looks between them with a skeptical eye, unmoved by Karen’s words. But then she shrugs. “Well there is one thing that you could do for me. If you’d be up for it.”

“Name it.”

“I’m afraid that we aren’t going to have enough wine for dinner now that this bottle ended up on the floor. So would one of you mind running to the liquor store down the street to get another?”

Karen’s shoulders drop a few centimeters at the simplicity of the favor. “Absolutely. Any requests?”

“Just a Cab, dear. Please and thank you.”

“I’m on it,” she says, turning on her heels and heading for the coat rack.

“Mom, we have plenty of—“ Karen hears Foggy saying as she heads down the hallway, but then he exhales forcefully as if cut off, and Anna begins speaking, saying that Karen is no longer in earshot to hear. She shakes her head as she reaches her coat and begins to put it on. Something is definitely up with Foggy, and she beginning to suspect what it might be.

The sound of feet on the floorboards behind Karen alerts her to the fact that someone followed her down the hallway. She turns to see Matt wearing a decidedly guilty grimace.

“Did you volunteer to come too?”

He squints at her. “Well, technically I think the term is being ‘volun- _told_ ’. But don’t get me wrong— I’m more than happy to come with you. You know … if you want,” he says with a shrug.

Karen rolls her eyes playfully. “Of course. So, come on,” she says with a wave of her hand toward the hook where his coat hangs.

A soft smile breaks across his face as he bundles up, and minutes later they are braving the cold, winter air.

After they are a safe distance away from the apartment, Karen snuggles her hands in her pockets and glances over her shoulder at Matt as they set off down the block.

“So, do you at all get the feeling that we’re being set up, or is it just me?”

Matt chuckles humorlessly. “It’s not just you. I’m sorry, Karen. I don’t know that’s about.”

She raises an eyebrow at him. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Apparently not,” he counters with a cock of his chin.

“I think that Foggy may have inadvertently started this whole thing.”

“Foggy? Really?”

“Yeah. He hasn’t been able to make eye-contact with me all night, and every time I enter the room, he turns as red as tomato.”

Matt frowns for a moment, deep in thought. “You know, he has been acting weird since we got here. Off. And anxious. But now that you mention it, that could all read as … guilty in the correct light.”

Karen shrugs. “My point, exactly.”

“And you know … he was kind of weird before we left too. I thought maybe he was just freaking out about proposing to Marci—“

“Wait, he’s going to propose?!” Karen stops in her tracks, eyes wide with shock.

Matt shakes his head as he walks back a few paces to meet Karen, pinching the bridge of his nose. “... Oh. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned that.”

Karen is not proud to admit it, but she can’t help but pout a little to have been kept out of the loop regarding such important information about her friend. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me. But I guess that’s ‘best-friend’ territory. And I’m guessing you’re the best man?”

Matt huffs an incredulous laugh. “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have anything to do with that … considering that he didn’t tell me either and I just so happened to notice the ring box he’s been carrying in his breast pocket for the last two weeks. Don’t take it personally.”

She chuckles and bumps his shoulder with hers. “Thank god.”

They begin walking again, comfortable silence descending for a few steps until the lingering question of the two of them being set up re-asserts itself in her mind. “So what do you think we should do?”

Matt cocks his head in her direction. “About what?”

“About the entire Nelson clan trying to play ‘Matchmaker’?” she says emphatically.

His expression remains inscrutable, and not for the first time, Karen wishes she could read _his_ sensory data to get a clue about what is going on inside of his head.

“They mean well,” he eventually says with a sigh. “Foggy and I have been friends since college, and they’ve adopted me as a surrogate son of sorts. And even though they haven’t known you as long, they love you too, it’s all coming from a good place. But still, if we ask them to give it a rest, I’m sure they’ll respect that. They want to see us both happy, that’s all. They just don’t know that we tried it once already and … well. It worked. You know, until it didn’t …”

Even though they’re outdoors, Karen suddenly doubts whether she will ever be able to get enough air to escape the tension that is threatening to suffocate her. Because this it is. They’re finally having addressing the topic of _them_ again, after carefully dancing around it for months. The anticipation threatens to consume her whole.

“Right. So uhh … do you ever think it could work again?”

He swallows, voice cautious and head hung low. “Yeah, maybe. I mean, if we both decided we wanted that.”

“And what do you want?” She chances a glance at him out of the corner of her eye and is glad that she doesn’t run the risk of making eye contact.

He’s silent for a beat, the only sounds between them the echo of their feet on the pavement and ambient sounds of the city around them. “I want you to be happy, Karen. More than anything else in the world.”

Her heart stutters. “And what about your happiness?”

“Seeing you happy makes me happy,” he says with a genuine smile and an easy shrug. And the sincerity in his voice makes it hard for Karen to remember what has been keeping them apart all this time.

Luckily, it’s at that point that they reach the liquor store. And when Karen receives a text from Foggy suggesting that they also pick up some champagne, or else suffer a severely lacking New Year’s toast, the moment has passed and they are back to laughing at their friend and making bets about how and when he’s finally going to pop the question to Marci.

But Karen finds it difficult to put the thought of Matt, smiling brightly at her and all but asking her to try again, out if her mind. She fears she will struggle to do so for the rest of the night.

———

Once they have returned, beverages in tow, it’s nearly time for dinner. And Karen is starting to get hungry. It occurs to her that she may have been so engrossed in the story she was writing over lunch that she forgot to eat, and her body is now voicing its displeasure about her decision. She wanders over to the dining table to try to keep herself distracted from the scents wafting down the hall from the kitchen, which are becoming stronger and more enticing with every passing moment.

The table settings are immaculate, like something out of a holiday home decor magazine, complete with place-cards to inform everyone of their seating assignments. Karen smirks as she scopes out the table and notices her and her friends' assignments.

She, Marci, Foggy, and Matt are all assigned to a separate table— one that is set off a foot or two from the main table and situated in the corner of the dining room. Karen chuckles at their placement. In other circumstances, she wouldn’t be surprised if this is the kids’ table, but for now it appears to be reserved for young ‘couples’. Oh well. At least they’ll be able to engage one another in conversation free of interruption of meddling from anyone else, no matter how well-intentioned.

Karen’s stomach lets out a growl, and she looks expectantly toward the kitchen. She’s not trying to seem impatient but everything smells so good. Just when she starts to fear her stomach will give up on waiting and try to eat itself, Mrs. Nelson calls for everyone to find their seats.

Breathing a silent prayer of relief, Karen finds Matt a few feet away in a conversation with one of Foggy’s uncles and offers her arm. A crooked smile curls up the corner of his mouth as he links his arm with hers. She leads him to the corner of the dining room where they have been assigned to sit at their own table, and Matt chuckles on their way.

“So we’ve been relegated to the kids’ table this year?”

“Apparently,” Karen deadpans.

Marci shrugs from where she’s preparing to sit on the opposite side of the table. “I think I like it, actually.”

Foggy says nothing, maintaining an uncharacteristic flush as he takes a special interest in the label of his beer bottle; Karen subtly pulls Matt's arm and nods her head in Foggy’s direction, and Matt raises his eyebrow. They press their mouths into matching thin lines to stifle laughter.

After Karen informs Matt of which seat is his— the one on the outside edge with the back to the main table—Matt insists on helping her into hers. She blushes at the gesture as she moves to step around the edge of the table to her seat, against the wall. Her blush deepens as she notices laughing and snickering in their direction coming from the main table. She looks back to Matt, brow wrinkled in confusion until she notices something in the upper periphery of her vision. Turning, she realizes that in stepping to the side of the table to allow Matt to pull out her chair, she has stepped beneath some mistletoe, which was carefully hung in the center of the window, part of an elaborate window dressing complete with evergreen garland, elegant red ribbons, and beautiful glass ornaments. And all decorating the window under which her chair is placed. She licks her lips and chuckles nervously as she glances in Matt’s direction. Her heart flutters under his questioning gaze.

“You okay,” he asks?

“Yeah. I’m just, uhh … standing under the mistletoe,” she says with equal parts resignation and dread. If any question remained in her mind about whether she and Matt were being pushed together tonight, it evaporated as soon as she looked up to see those little white berries attached to those specific looking leaves.

“Oh,” he says, blinking a few times, and bringing a hand up to rub at the back of his neck.

A new chorus of chuckles break out around the table. Karen is certain that she matches the red of the ribbons in the window dressing above her at this point.

“Yeah. So…” she trails off, biting her lip.

A tomb-like silence has fallen over the room, save for the murmurs that can be heard from every direction, a susurrus of “oh come on”s and “just do it already”s spoken under everyone’s breath. Karen finally takes a breath and clears her throat to silence them all. Then she turns to Matt with a shy smile. “Well, do you mind? I mean, it is tradition, isn’t it?”

He gives her a knowing smile. “Right. Tradition. Can’t break that,” he says and nods his head in agreement. Then he stands stock still and raises an expectant eyebrow.

Her heart stutters and she has to work to swallow, but eventually she manages it. “Great.”

But it’s not great. It’s … Karen isn’t quite sure what it is, but she’s afraid that whatever it might be is going to give her a coronary from the way that it causes her heart to pound. It would be one of her bigger lies if she were to say she hadn’t thought about this moment— kissing Matt again— many, many times in the last year and a half. But now that the moment is actually materializing before her, she fears that she will spontaneously combust or cause some kind of singularity to form if she gives in to her desire to do so.

She tries to remember how to breathe as she slowly leans closer. She still hasn’t decided exactly what she’s going to do until she gets close enough that he closes his eyes. And something about that tiny gesture breaks her heart while simultaneously causing it to swell.

At the last possible moment, she subtly turns her head to brush the softest kiss she can manage against his cheek, afraid if she gives him a proper kiss, things will spiral out of control, and quickly. (After all, they have quite the audience.) But Matt anticipates her movement and he loses the fight with his self-control for a millisecond, long enough to chase her lips with the corner of his own, before reigning himself back in and staying still to accept the feather-light touch of Karen’s lips on his cheek.

Even with the barest of contact that their lips make, a spark passes between them, and it takes all of her willpower not to crumple into a puddle at Matt’s feet. Or, alternatively, to take his head in her hands and press their lips together in a searing kiss— the kind which they haven’t shared since that night on her building steps, but which she has thought about more times than might have been healthy— audience be damned.

A beat passes, during which time Karen shakes herself back to reality and slowly pulls back from Matt. But as the space between them increases, unfortunately so does the tension. Luckily, a wolf-whistle from the far end of the table breaks them both out of their trance.

“Thanks for the show, but you mind if we eat now?” Foggy’s brother shouts, a playful lilt to his voice, and the whole room bursts into laughter. Well, almost the whole room.

Karen turns to see Matt blushing just as fiercely as she still is, and she moves to sit. But Matt, ever the gentleman, is determined to finish his task. He steps closer and puts a hand on the small of her back, subtly guiding her to sit. Once she does, he helps to push in her chair, then kneels beside her and whispers into her ear.

“Sorry about all that. You okay?”

Karen chuckles. “I feel like I should be apologizing. But, no worries, it’s fine. Thanks for playing along.”

Matt rolls his shoulders and clears his throat. “It’s tradition.”

She nods skeptically. Because that didn’t feel like simply playing along in the name of tradition. That felt like he was bursting at the seams to kiss her in earnest, just as much as she was. Their conversations from the stairwell and walk earlier tonight flash back through Karen’s mind, and she has to take a sip from her drink before her heart beats out of her chest.

A cryptic smile on his face, Matt stands and pulls out his own chair to sit. Karen then glances across the table to see Marci looking back and forth between her and Matt, eyes twinkling as she sips at a glass of wine. But when Karen turns her eyes toward Foggy, he looks as if he is in agony— head in his hands and gaze downcast. Karen smirks to herself at that and decides to let him sweat it a little longer. Because much to her chagrin, their plan, clumsy as it is, might actually be working, and she doesn’t know what to think about that.

———

After dinner and dessert and assorted card games, Karen is introduced to the final Nelson family holiday tradition: the sharing of resolutions for the new year. As a new-comer, Karen is given the courtesy of going last, so that she can see how the process occurs. As everyone around the room has their turn, Karen hears a multitude of resolutions and hopes for the new year— to spend more time with loved ones, to work toward important goals, to make healthy choices, to practice more gratitude, and to spread kindness in a world which sorely lacks it.

Karen is amazed by all of the insight in the room and touched by all of the hope that shines through in each new goal. As much as she loves the city, it can sometimes be easy to give into the ambivalence and isolation that makes it feel as though everyone is selfish and hateful and rude and that no one at all seems to care about the greater good. But sitting in this room, Karen knows that is not true; there is good in the world and she is surrounded by people who are striving to prove it.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost misses it when Foggy begins to speak. But moments later as the room gives a collective gasp at whatever surprising words he said, she blinks back to reality. And she can’t help the tears that well in her eyes as she sees Foggy on his knee in front of Marci, trembling with nerves as he holds out a burgundy ring box.

“Marci, you’ve been one of the only constants in my life in the last few years, and I’ve been better for it. Because I’m better with you. And my resolution is to make it official and tell the world that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. If you’ll have me.”

Karen bites her lip, unconsciously holding her breath. Matt, who is sitting to her right, has gone completely still head cocked and face pinched in focus as if listening hard for something. Karen just so happens to glance at him and watches as a sly grin curls the corner of his mouth up milliseconds before Marci surges forward from her seat and captures Foggy in a passionate kiss, before wrapping her arms around him.

“Foggy-bear, I thought you’d never ask! Yes!” she says with glee, and the room erupts into cheers and congratulations. Karen cups a hand around her mouth and whoops, smile so wide her cheeks ache. Pressure on her knee causes her to turn back to Matt and she turns to see him grinning just as wide.

“Finally,” he says with an exaggerated eye-roll as he leans in closer to be heard over the joyous sounds of celebration and various calls for toasts and more champagne.

Karen shivers as his breath tickles against her ear. “Right?” she asks with a chuckle. “But in all honesty, they deserve to be happy.”

Matt pursues his lips for a moment. “Maybe we all do.”

Karen nods and hums in agreement, not trusting her voice to say anything more. Luckily, she’s saved when Foggy and Marci walk over, arms around one another’s waist while Marci holds her hand aloft, her pear-shaped halo engagement ring with diamond band glittering in the light.

They share their congratulations, but before they can say much more, Mrs. Nelson’s booming voice settles the chaos. “Alright, everybody it’s almost time! Get your glasses and pair up as we get ready for the ball to drop!”

Marci and Foggy disappear as quickly as they came, running to get their glasses, and leaving Karen and Matt alone again. She reaches for her glass as her pulse rises.

Someone turns on the television in the corner of the room, and everyone else starts preparing for the countdown. “Sixty seconds, people!” Mrs. Nelson announces.

“‘Pair up’ eh? So, the midnight kiss must be another Nelson family holiday tradition.”

Matt grimaces as he reaches for his own glass. “Yeah. Sorry. But we don’t have to do that. No pressure.”

Karen shrugs. “What the hell?”

He raises his eyebrows at her. “Are you sure?”

“What can I say? I’m a badass,” she says with a playful lilt in her voice and a smirk on her face. “But we also didn’t share our resolutions yet, what with Foggy proposing and all. Do you think we’ll be able to get out of that?” She scoots a little closer to Matt.

The countdown continues in the background. “Halfway there! Thirty seconds and counting!” someone else shouts.

“Well,” Matt drawls, “that probably depends. What’s your resolution or intention for the New Year, Ms. Page?”

Maybe it’s the buzz of alcohol in her belly, maybe it’s the warmth and joy in the room from the whole Nelson clan, or the fact that Foggy and Marci are going to get married. Or maybe it’s just because something finally feels right between them. Regardless, Karen takes a deep breath, and takes a leap of faith.

“Well, I think I’m willing to try again. If you are.”

They’re into the home-stretch now. The room erupts into a chorus of counting as the ball begins to drop. “Ten! Nine! …”

Matt smiles, bright and big and beautiful and Karen’s heart melts. “Uh, I guess you could say that,” he says with a smirk.

“Six! Five! …”

She raises her glass. “To us, then.”

Matt raises his glass to hers and nods. “To us.”

They drink in tandem as the last seconds tick down. “Two! One! …”

There are cheers and clapping as the clock strikes midnight, signaling the start of a new year. And then there is a second wave of cheering and clapping as the room realizes they have succeeded in their master plan. But Karen and Matt are immune to it all as she threads her hands through his hair and leans into him as he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her tight as their lips meet in a kiss which communicates all of the longing and apologies and emotion that they have been dying to share for months. And it just feels _right_.

And even though they were set up— though it was planned for who knows how long and though their friend played along— Karen can’t find it in her to care. Because a new year is starting and with it comes new opportunities and experiences. Because she’s surrounded by love, by people who may not be her blood family but who have shown her enough warmth and acceptance to make her feel as loved as if she were. And because she’s going to have so many new opportunities in her relationship with Matt. Opportunities to grow and learn, to improve upon their past mistakes and use the lessons they’ve learned in the last two years to be the best possible people in their relationship, while also being the best version of themselves as individuals. Karen is thrilled for her friends Foggy and Marci because she knows they belong together, and she’s just as excited for herself and Matt because she thinks they stand a chance this time, now that they know who they both really are. She just can’t wait to see what happens. Starting today.


End file.
